Sudden Death
by AlwaysYourAibou
Summary: "They say he died on impact and that he didn't feel any pain. So why doesn't that ease mine?" Yugi's job as a paramedic makes his relationship with Atemu stressful.


Sudden Death

Summary: "They say he died on impact and that he didn't feel any pain. So why doesn't that ease mine?" Yugi's job as a paramedic makes his relationship with Atemu stressful.

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO.

Rating: T

From Yugi's point of view

Sudden Death

"We got another one. Car accident on route 66. I'm hearing it's an ugly one too!" Max yelled excitedly, hopping into the fire truck and starting the engine. Yugi leaned back against the truck and sighed when the humming of the engine flowed through his body. It was only three in the afternoon, only an hour after his shift started; this was their second call.

The amethyst eyed twenty three year old turned towards Jou who was finishing his cigarette. "Well, Yug, looks like another bad day, eh?" He shook his head softly, using his foot to put out the item Yugi liked to call a "cancer stick".

Yugi nodded solemnly and slammed his head against the truck before leaving his comfortable leaning pose and making his way to the ambulance. "You drive this time?" Yugi suggested more than asked. Last time Yugi had his ass handed to him when he took a wrong right and got lost on the way to another accident.

Jou chuckled warmly. "I got your back partner." He winked at him before clumsily throwing his yellow vest over his shoulders and climbing into the ride. Yugi sighed before doing the same, strapping the bright disgusting yellow labeled PARAMEDIC onto his body. He bit his lip nervously as Max revived the fire truck's engine and blasted the siren. Yugi rolled his eyes and Jou laughed. "That guy never gets enough."

Max Resner was a simple man. He had grown up somewhere outside of the city on a farm. His father had been a fireman, his grandfather was a fireman, his grandfather's father….the bloodline's love for fire never seemed to end. The Resner family had a particular love for helping people as well as danger. Max's love for action almost was enough to quench his thirst for sex. Women ran in and out of the Domino County Firehouse chasing after the fireman. It wasn't hard to see why, the man was perfect apart from his personality. But he failed in comparison to Atemu.

Yugi sighed as Jou turned their siren on and turned the volume up on the dispatch. He listened carefully as he followed Max and another fire truck onto the road. He nodded as Yugi listened in. Codes and different voices filtered in on the intercom. It made Yugi feel numb. People dealing with such misery and death shouldn't have voices that were so melancholy.

"You've been quiet all day, man." Jou commented. "You alright?"

Yugi nodded, keeping the silent trend.

"You two fought again, didn't ya?" Jou stated, knowing the only reason for Yugi's silence would be because his thoughts were lost in the endless misery surrounding his boyfriend. Jou shook his head. "You gotta talk to him, Yugi. You can't keep him in the dark. He isn't used to you lying about things."

"I'm not lying, Jou." Yugi defended. "I just…I don't want to dump my selfish troubles on him."

The blonde nodded with a hum and then smiled. "Atemu loves you, Yugi. You know that. You could cheat on 'em or beat the shit out of'em and that man would come running back to you if you asked him to. So what is the problem?" Jou yelled as the siren tried to drown him out.

Yugi bit his lip and rolled the window up. It was such a beautiful day. The birds were chirping, the sun was warmer than usual, and the sky was bluer than Yugi had ever remembered seeing it. It was always like this when the first glimpses of spring peeked their way. The grass had just finished turning that gorgeous dark green color and the sun always felt so much warmer than usual.

"Yugi?" Jou stabbed Yugi in the arm with his finger. "Stop ignoring me. Tell me what the problem is."

"It's nothing, Jou. Just keep driving." Yugi whispered, not really caring if Jou heard him. It didn't matter. His best friend wasn't the one who should be hearing the conversation. He needed to take to Atemu about all this. He just didn't know how.

"Alright." Jou shrugged. "But I can't help if you don't talk to me." Jou grabbed honk the horn loudly at an idiot who refused to move out of the way. "Move, jackass!" He blasted the siren more before the man finally pulled aside. Yugi braced himself as they ran through a red light, Max leading the way. "Calm down, Yugi. I got this." Jou said.

"I trust you, Jou." Yugi assured him. He glanced back into the side view mirror and growled. "It's them I don't." He commented, watching pedestrians and cars slow down as people stared at them. Why were people always so nosy? Yugi crossed his arms and looked back into the ambulance. "You restocked everything last night, right?"

Jou nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"I couldn't find any fresh swabs."

Jou laughed. "They are under the cabinets."

Yugi blinked. "Oh." He stated, still looking behind them at their empty ambulance. He knew it wasn't going to stay that way. His want to help people made him choose this job but lately he and Atemu had started to regret it. It was life changing that much was clear.

Jou gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Shit." He whispered, honking slightly to move the crowd of people that blocked him from parking close to the accident they were coming up on. Yugi turned and winced at the job ahead of them. Jou gave him a look. "I have a feeling Shock Trauma will be called for this one."

Yugi felt a stabbing feeling of nervousness and fear dig into his stomach. He hated his job sometimes. This was going to be one of those days. Max honked next to them and used his fingers to point in the direction of the wrecked metal. Yugi swallowed hard and waited for Jou to slow down slightly before opening the door.

Before Yugi could even feel the warmth on his face his ears were met with piercing screams that even drowned out the sound of the sirens. Yugi allowed his eyes to adjust as he rushed to the back of the ambulance and flung the doors open. He grabbed his pack as Jou turned parked and jumped out as well. Police officers ran to meet them.

"What have we got?" Yugi rushed, throwing his pack over shoulder and making his way over to the accident.

An officer took his hat off and rubbed his neck. "It's a mess. I just got here and I was getting some witness reports. Looks like it's this damn curve again. Vehicles tend to either not turn enough or over turn. Looks like both in this case." Yugi looked at his feet and saw debris everywhere. The trees shielded them from the sun as Yugi gazed at the long trail of debris that lead to the death scene.

"Didn't hit the brakes?" Yugi asked, looking behind him as they stepped over a tire.

"Didn't have time. The trash truck as going sixty and so was the car. I guess both crossed the median only slightly. Completely tore the front of the trash truck off." The officer rubbed his head again. "But that car is destroyed." Screams came from the scene as Yugi fixed his eyes on the metal scrap heap in front of them.

Picking up into a jog, Yugi rushed over to see the remains of a silver Honda Civic sitting in the middle of the road, pieces of its glass and metal everywhere. The trash truck's front end was completely gone. The only thing that remained was the actually driver's seat. More sirens caused Yugi to turn around to see another county's fire department had made their way to the scene. A few paramedics were with them.

Jou rushed to Yugi's side as they headed towards the screaming woman in the passenger's seat of the Honda Civic. Jou turned to him and shook his head, slightly out of breath. "Fuck, I wish people were more careful." Yugi nodded in agreement as they reached the scene and looked into the Civic. Jou looked at the woman screaming. "Ma'am?" He asked sternly and loudly. "Ma'am what happened? Where are you hurt?"

The woman looked fine. She turned to them and shook her head. "I'm not hurt." She sobbed. "I'm just a neighbor." She explained. "I heard the crash and came out to see what was going on and I found him like this."

"Get out of the car!" Jou yelled in frustration. "Don't you know you're not supposed to touch them? Go home!" He yelled, pulling the woman from the car and pushing her towards the other people watching closely.

Yugi wasn't paying attention to Jou's yells as he reached the driver's side. It was hard to see with all the glass smashed in a strange way. All Yugi knew for sure was that anyone in that vehicle needed help now. Yugi squinted into the car. Someone patted his shoulder. He turned to see another paramedic giving him a soft look. "Where do you need us?" He asked. Yugi gave him a quizzical look. "Your county, your orders." The man explained with a shrugged. Another paramedic joined him and waited for Yugi's orders.

Yugi glanced over towards the man who had been driving the trash truck. He was walking around in a daze, a bloodied lip all to show for the horrific experience. "One of you help me here while the other tends to him." Yugi gestured. One paramedic remained while the other sprinted towards the man. "Sir?" Yugi asked loudly. There was no response.

The paramedic named Martin walked over to the other side of the car and took out a small blanket. He covered the man with it inside and nodded towards Yugi. "I can't get good access right here. We'll need to break the window."

Carefully, Yugi took out a pair of gloves and peeled away the remains of the glass on his side of the car. Getting a better look inside, Yugi shook his head. He grabbed the man's wrist and felt for a pulse. Yugi's hands were shaking so much he wasn't sure he would be able to feel one. He took out a flashlight and used his other hand to peel back an eyelid to one of the man's eyes. Crimson. Yugi shivered slightly but shined the light into the man's eyes and then removed it. No dilation. "Shit."

The red haired man lay there silently, his chest smashed back against his seat. The steering wheel was pushed tightly into his chest and his hands were burned from the slight sign of an airbag deployment. Yugi didn't see any signs of the airbag. Not a good sign.

"Told you it was bad." The police officer who met him first stated. "The car was dragged about 100 feet before actually stopping." The officer shook his head. "The truck driver is in shock but I think he'll be okay. Doesn't look like the case for this guy."

Yugi nodded solemnly.

"Should I call for Shock Trauma?" The police officer asked.

"It's too late." Yugi whispered. He looked up to see people with cell phones out, trying to take a picture. This angered him. "Get me a tarp and try to get those people out of here."

The officer nodded and quickly moved away to do what he was supposed to do. Jou tapped Yugi's shoulder. "Need an IV?" Jou asked. Yugi shook his head. Jou glanced into the car. "Shit, he didn't even have a chance did he?" Jou asked. Again another head shake. "Died on impact, huh?" Jou shivered slightly. "This is your first death, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Yugi muttered quietly. He turned to the crowd of people staring and pointing in their direction. He growled at them and looked back at the man dead in the car. "Can we get a tarp over here please?" He demanded of Max who was telling his other men to start sawing off the top of the car. Max nodded and pointed to the back of the truck and then at one of his men. Yugi looked back into the crowd to see one a teenage boy trying to cross the yellow tape being put up.

The amethyst eyed man watched as the teenager looked at Max and then took his cellphone out. He held it up and tried to get a good angle on the body. Yugi felt something snap within him as he rushed over to the teen. Blue eyes looked up at him in shock. "Sorry." He muttered before ducking back under the tape.

"Erase it." Yugi growled, ducking back with him.

"W-what?" The teen asked. He was taller than Yugi but obviously not as fierce as the man was right now.

"Erase the damn picture you just took." Yugi spelled out for him. The teenager didn't move as Yugi grabbed his phone. He took the phone and as hard as he could, he threw it on the ground. It shattered on impact, horrifying the younger. Yugi pointed an angry finger at him as he ignored the shocked cried from the other people in the crowd. "You want people taken pictures of your dead mother if that were her in that car?"

The teen shook his head slowly, practically shaking.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Jou yelled, approaching them and taking Yugi by the shoulders. "That's enough, man." He turned to the teen and shrugged. "Sorry, bud. Just stay behind the tape, alright?" He asked and the teen just nodded in shock.

Yugi tore away from Jou as he made his way back to the car and started helping with the tarp. The police officer approached him. "I got this from the passenger's seat. It's really thick. No wonder he didn't want to sit on it." Yugi put some gloves on before taking the wallet.

"Could I have a look?" He muttered but didn't wait for a response. He slowly opened the wallet and gazed at the contents inside. A family picture was the first thing he saw. The deceased man stood behind three chairs. In the center of the picture was a beautiful woman Yugi thought to be his wife. Next to her sat a blonde haired, green eyes little girl no older than five. A geeky smile on her face revealed that she had recently lost two of her upper teeth. To the other side of the woman sat a boy probably about six or seven. He had blonde hair as well and what looked to be blue eyes. Just like his father's eyes. Yugi bit his lip as he looked at the driver's license.

Thomas Liget Madely.

Yugi blinked hard as Jou came up from behind him. "Hey man, what the hell was dat all about?" He asked. Yugi shoved the picture as him and Jou looked at it quickly. "Damn shame." He said sadly, shaking his head. "Looks like he was only in his thirties."

"Thirty two this June." Yugi remarked softly. He folded the wallet back up and gave it back to the officer. The man looked at him softly. "Sorry." Yugi said, knowing he wasn't supposed to touch the personal belongings of the deceased. His job was to keep the man alive but that was no longer a possibility.

The faces of the children made Yugi shudder. Were they at home right now? Were they waiting for their father to return home from his work shift or from buying food for dinner? How long would they be waiting before they realized that he wasn't coming home?

Yugi blinked a few tears from his eyes. They were angry tears. Jou looked him up and down and held out his hand. "What?" Yugi snapped.

Jou raised an eyebrow as if to say 'don't take that tone with me' but instead he just waved his hand some more. "Give me your gear." He stated. Yugi frowned when he figured out what the man was saying to him. Jou wouldn't give in. "Give me your gear." He repeated.

"I'm not going home." Yugi growled. "I'm fine."

"I already talked to Max. You're causing more trouble than helping. Go home." Jou said very slowly.

Yugi was practically gasping out for air he was so pissed. No one was going to tell him to leave his job. He had work to do. They all had work to do. Yugi grumbled before turning away from Jou and moving back towards the car. Max looked in his direction as his team start to lift up the tarp to shield the deceased—Thomas's body from the crowd. He pointed to the ambulance but Yugi only growled at him. His glare matched his words, "Zip it, Max!"

Max wasn't one to back down from a challenge. He waltzed over to Yugi keeping his eyes flitting to the crowd. A scene could give his crew a bad rep. which was the last thing the man wanted. He pulled Yugi aside and gave the younger male a once over. "Go." He instructed. "I'm telling you this as your friend and boss, go."

Yugi sighed through his nose as he glanced at Thomas's form in the car. "How do you propose I do that?"

"Take the ambulance back to the station. I'll get one of the rookies here to drop off the trash truck guy and drop me off at the station." Jou answered, coming up from behind. "You go walk this off. You're way too steamed to be here right now."

"You'll get your full pay for the day." Max interjected. "Just go."

Yugi bit his tongue to prevent himself from stomping his foot like a two year old. Jou handed him the keys and Yugi took off. He closed up the vehicle before sitting in the driver's seat and watching the madness before him. His fingers felt numb and his stomach felt like it was going to implode. Yugi swallowed hard when Max noticed he wasn't moving. He pointed his finger in the opposite direction of the road.

The man grunted before starting the ambulance. He put it in drive and turned the siren on. Jou gave him a warning look but Yugi gave him another that said 'bite me' before he turned around and headed back to the station.

He felt like a dangerous man. He honked and blared the siren at anyone who got in his way. He growled when he went through red lights and often wanted to give the finger to anyone who could see him. His speed clocked about 70-80 mph down the roads. It was safer than the city he had grown up in to drive at such speeds but definitely not wise. He realized this when he tried to turn right and almost toppled the ambulance.

When he straightened out, Yugi smirked as the dangerous move. This felt so wrong. He was breaking the law and loving it at the same time.

Sudden flashes of red haired Thomas and his children went through his mind. The woman in front of him and desperately trying to get out of his way had two children in the back seat with her. Was that them? Yugi pulled alongside her as he passed by and realized that it wasn't even close to the family. It didn't matter. He wouldn't be the cause of another fatal accident.

Yugi hesitantly turned off the siren. He had only a mile to the station. Yugi glanced down at the speedometer to make sure he was going an okay speed. He glanced up to see the fire station coming up fast on his left. He sighed before pulling in.

He frowned when he saw a dark blue lexis sitting beside his light blue mazda. That was Atemu's car. Yugi swallowed hard as he backed into the station and shut the door. He walked outside to see his boyfriend leaning against the car with his arms crossed. It was the 'I'm a whole two years older than you so I'm obviously wiser and more mature so don't fuck with me' look that Yugi always adored. Yugi chuckled at the sarcasm his thoughts gave.

However, the man was in no mood to argue some more with his boyfriend. Especially not in the emotional state he was in. Yugi stopped a few feet from the car and examined Atemu to see what kind of mood he was in. The man wore a light sand color pants with a light blue unbuttoned shirt. A white tee was under it, hiding the six-pack Yugi always loved to rub. His toes were open because of the brown sandals he was wearing and his eyes were covered with his brown sunglasses that were almost as dark as his skin color. His tri color hair blew around in the cool breeze.

Yugi approached with caution. "What are you doing here?" He finally said.

Atemu cleared his throat and pulled his sunglasses off much in the same fashion as an actor would on set. "You needed me." He said simply, his baritone voice sending chills up Yugi's spine.

It was decided a few months ago that if Yugi had to choose to go blind or deaf he would go blind. Not seeing Atemu would be hard on his but not hearing him would be worse. That voice alone held gravity and it was the gravity that Yugi relied on to keep his feet planted on earth's surface.

He would miss those eyes, though. Gods those crimson eyes were more beautiful than any fire Yugi had ever sat by. Yugi bit his lip and glanced at the ground. The sun was bright here. "I didn't need you." He lied. "Besides, you're mad at me, remember?"

Atemu rolled his slender hips and upper body to remove himself from the leaning position. He uncrossed his arms and walked up to Yugi. "I'm not mad." He said softly. "You just assume that because I'm concerned about you, it must also mean that I'm angry. I wasn't angry. I just wanted to talk." Atemu said casually, keeping himself from touching the younger man before him.

Atemu had a habit of holding Yugi all the time. Yugi didn't mind, but it wasn't something he wanted when he was frustrated with his boyfriend. "There is nothing to talk about. This is my job. I took a job that was compatible with my personality."

"No," Atemu corrected. "You took a job that it changing your personality."

Yugi sighed in frustration as he looked into intense crimson eyes that the sun seemed to reflect. "What do you want me to do, Atemu?"

The other man said nothing for a moment. "What happened?" Was the next question that popped out of his mouth.

"Nothing."

"Liar." Atemu caught him. "What happened?"

Yugi thought of Thomas and shuddered. "Just a car accident." Yugi whispered. Atemu leaned closer to him but still didn't touch him. He said nothing when Yugi ducked his head down so his boyfriend could not see his forming tears.

"Just a car accident, huh?" He inquired. "I've seen you after 'just a car accident' and you've never looked as bad as this."

"Gee, thanks." Yugi almost whimpered out due to his choking emotions.

"You know what I mean." Atemu said softly.

Yugi's eyes remained on ground as he noticed an ant crawling over his foot. He would have killed it, but what was the point? There were only a trillion other ants in the county that would eventually do the same thing. Killing one wouldn't make a difference. Nothing made a difference. "Just a rough one today, that's all."

Atemu hummed softly before finally putting his arms around the man before him and hugging him. "They are all rough, Yugi." He breathed against him. "Don't you know that by now?"

Yugi remained lifeless before him. He did nothing to reject or accept the embrace. He just sat his head on Atemu's shoulder. "What is it with you and this job? Why do you resent me so much for taking it?"

"Because it's killing you." Atemu commented bluntly.

Amethyst eyes blurred as the true reason for Atemu's nagging lately came to life. He knew it was true. Ever since he took the job he had had to deal with children being shot, burn victims, countless cases of domestic violence responses, stabbings, minor cuts and broken bones, car accident injuries, and his first death. It was suffocating him.

Atemu must have taken Yugi's silence to be a bad thing for he tightened his hold on Yugi's limp form. "That fire inside of you that I love so much as been dimmed to mere embers thanks to this so called career. Every day I see you die a little more inside and I can't let you do this to yourself."

It took Yugi a few seconds to realize that there were tears streaming down his face. He silently sobbed against his boyfriend, feeling weak and useless. "I just wanted to help people." He cried softly.

"I know."

"I didn't know it would be so hard." Yugi finally put his arms around Atemu's waist and settled into the embrace. He took in the scent of Atemu's cologne and tried to calm himself down. The emotional stress of his job was finally starting to break him down. "They say he died on impact and that he didn't feel any pain. So why doesn't that ease mine?"

Atemu moved away from Yugi and gently caressed his shoulders up and down. "Who died?"

"Thomas Madely." He stated and hated himself for not remembering the middle name of the man he pronounced dead on the scene. "He was only thirty one, Atemu. Thirty one! He didn't deserve this. Even if it was his fault, he didn't deserve it. He had a wife and kids at home that may be waiting for him now and—"

"Sh." Atemu cooed softly. "Easy, take a deep breath."

Yugi chuckled through his tears and tried to wipe them away with his sleeve. "What are you, my coach or something?" He asked.

Atemu laughed nervously with him. "Sometimes I think I may be." There was a silence for a moment as they watched cars fly by them. "Why did they send you back?"

Yugi waved his arms up and down his body and face. "Why do you think?"

His boyfriend watched him with softened crimson eyes for a moment before holding the man close to him again. Yugi always felt so protected in that embrace. It was as if an atomic bomb could be dropped on them and Atemu would find some way to make it so Yugi was unscathed. Yugi smiled softly in the embrace and breathed in Atemu's scent. "You understand what I'm saying, Yugi?" Atemu asked him.

"Yeah." Yugi whispered to him, his tears letting up and a feeling of relief overwhelming him. The world was no longer on his shoulders. "I think I'll put my two weeks' notice in tomorrow. That is, if Max will let me back into the house at all." Yugi stated.

Atemu smiled. "I'm working full time. We don't need the money if that is what you're worried about."

"No." Yugi breathed, letting go of his boyfriend completely. "I just wanna help people. I want to change the world for the better."

The elder shook his head softly and gave Yugi a sympathetic look. "You've changed my world for the better."

Yugi smiled at him, wiping away the last pitiful tear. "I suppose I'll be okay with that for now."

FIN

Comments? Concerns?


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